Heel, dog! (Hound, Abigail, Geoffrey and The Court)

"You have brought great shame upon your position and upon the gold cloak that you wear, Sandor Clegane!" Geoffrey declared loudly from his seat upon the Iron Throne, "You have sullied the honour of your position by beating two prostitutes, one to death. Not only that but you did so after taking them while on duty!"

The court gave discussed whispers and The Hound resisted the urge to roll his eyes from where he was kneeling before the throne. Geoffrey continued,

"For this crime you should be flogged!" he declared before holding up a hand, "However! Due to your previous devotion to duty and honest work for the crown... you shall merely be stripped of your rank as Captain of the Kingsguard!"

Two gold cloaks ripped Sandor's own gold cloak from his shoulders and threw it onto the ground. Sandor paused and realised that everyone was expecting him to say something. He thought back to what Tyrian had instructed him to say,

"You show much mercy my liege..." he said, swallowing the bile in his throat, "It is a sign of great wisdom. With your permission then, I shall take my leave to return to my duties as a regular member of your royal guard."

Geoffrey nodded,

"See that you do... Dog."

The Court tittered at the jab as Sandor grit his teeth and stood up stiffly, bowing once and briefly to Geoffrey, before marching out of the room.

Abigail was standing in the court, she was hoping and praying that Sandor wouldn't be hurt by Geoffrey but she couldn't be sure. The boy was horrible, some would even say evil and so she didn't hold out any great hope that he was going to be lenient with him despite the loyalty and strength that he provided in the name of the King.

He would be a harsh enemy to have against you.

That was why she was relieved beyond belief when she heard that Geoffrey was merely stripping him of his rank as the Captain of the Kings Guard which meant that he wasn't going to have to follow that insepid man around the whole time. Perhaps they would get to see each other more often than they had been?

Such a thought made her smile softly but, since their night together...something had changed between them. She didn't want to be friends, she wanted to be more but Sandor was continuing as normal. Perhaps he didn't care about what happened between them? Maybe it would be best to stop dwelling on it, in case disappointment was ahead.

Up in the balcony's Abigail slipped away unnoticed and she couldn't stop herself from going to find Sandor.

Hurrying in the direction that he might have headed in, Abigail could see him ahead and she jogged to keep up with him. Gently she placed her hand on his arm and smiled gently at him, hoping he wouldn't mind a small chat;

"I'm glad to see that you weren't harmed by the King."

The Hound sighed a little bit when he heard the footsteps of someone coming up to talk to him. Due to his image however it was likely going to be only one woman and that would be the most perplexing woman he had ever met. Sighing a little bit as he thought about how she was making him change, shifting his personality in subtle ways without even meaning to, he shook his head,

"Hello Wallis." he greeted her before humming in annoyance, "The boy should have known better than to punish me by letting me keep my worst duties... gives me more time to think of all the things I'd rather be doing."

He paused before smirking a little bit,

"I'm sure you'd like some of the things I'd rather be doing."

The smirk faded instantly when a maid walked towards them. He growled and she quickly scurried away from them. He paused for a moment,

"I did not want to die for a number of reasons." he admitted before glancing at her, "You are one reason and I find it confuses me slightly..."

Abigail smiled softly when he called her Wallis, it was strange to be honest because she had been calling him Sandor for a long while and he hadn't started calling her Abigail yet. She didn't mind though, it was just a little quirk of his, something that set him apart from the rest of the people in Kings Landing and made him someone she'd like to spend more time with.

"Oh really? I think that's what everyone thinks while they're working, at least, I know I tend to daydream a lot while I work." she stated with a small smirk on her lips.

Raising an eyebrow, she opened her mouth in mock shock and placed an offended hand on her chest; "Why such statements could make a woman think all the wrong things, but, I'm sure that I would like to do some of the things that you're thinking about as well." she retorted with a small purr to her voice.

Unable to stop her pout when he growled at the maid, Abigail couldn't stop the thought that she would much rather he be growling at her.

It went from her mind though when he said something quite romantic for him and she blinked slightly before allowing her hand to gently squeeze his arm through his armour - hopefully he would be able to feel it even still.

"It's because we're close to each other, its natural." she stated softly "It's the same reason I didn't want you to die, I couldn't handle it if he had hurt you."

The Hound liked their flirting but he wasn't really sure what it meant. To be honest they were doing things in such an unconventional way that he had no idea what kind of relationship they had. Did they had a healthy one? Perhaps. Was it a happy one? Most of the time.

He smirked a little bit and shook his head,

"Until you've been told to smother a child because it was annoying your boss with it's crying, you don't get to whine about your job when around me." he told her with a wider smirk, "That's my rule to everyone I meet. Stops me hearing about a lot of 'terrible' workplaces."

He hummed a little bit as he looked at her,

"Are they still the wrong things even if we both think they're right?"

He shook his head a little bit. If this was what being close to someone was like then he was glad he had never been like this during the rebellion. He would likely not have made it past his first battle, constantly worrying about someone. Shaking his head, he patted her on the shoulder,

"This... closeness... confuses me and I'm not like these men of intrigue... puzzles are hard and tricky to me." he told her as he began to follow some of the Royal Guard to continue his duties, "But we shall continue this discussion and the puzzle later... Abigail."